Sep 14, 2013

15 Online Marketing Must-Dos In 2013

What small changes can increase your business success and what online strategies can enhance your marketing? Take a look at this guide that illustrates 15 best marketing must-dos in 2013.

Strengthen your brand - Do you have a memorable brand? Your logo and design aesthetic should be consistent across all marketing collateral - from your website, to business cards, advertisements, and signage.

image by theemailpros.com

Use Google's free tools - Take advantage of the free tools offered by the world's largest search engine to help effectively manage your online impact. Set up Google Alerts for your business name, frequent Google Analytics for traffic info and monitor issues with Google webmaster tools.

Know your keyword list - Establish the top 10 keywords the clients would search when looking for your business. Google's free keywords tool makes it simple to find new keywords for your business that have high search volume and low competition.

Build your business links - The more you build your website, the greater your reach on search engines! You can create links by blogging, pinning, tweeting, posting and getting featured on industry websites. Build strong links to your site by creating hyperlinks that include your keywords.

Create a blog - Unique content generates more traffic to your website, and is a great way to showcase your business! In online marketing industry, it is easy to create relevant content for your business' blog. Share your recent events or favorite inspirational this season. Get started with blogger or WordPress to easily create and manage a blog regardless of your level of tech savvy!

Facebook like button - When people "like" a fan page, it get visible across their entire social platform! So it is essential to add a Facebook like button to your blog (Use Facebook developer for this).

Stay fresh with social - Don't let your social networks get outdated. Keep them interesting, relevant and engaging by adding new content daily (you can pre-schedule posts when you have the time!) Change your profile and cover photos, encourage conversation through status posts, share relevant links and articles, and add new albums or regular basis. This will improve your social SEO, grow your fan base, and keep your fans interested in your business.

image by: vmworld.com

Use Pinterest and Instagram - Make sure your business has a presence on two of the most popular and engaging image sharing sites of the year - Pinterest and Instagram! Easily create an account for your business, and share your favorite inspirational images and best work with your followers. Manage the accounts from your desktop or on-the-go with the mobile apps.

Track your social impact - Commit to measuring analytics across your social media platforms. Tools are available to track your impact, most engaging posts and isolate areas of growth, including: Facebook Insights, social media management dashboards, Google Analytics and more.

Create video content - Video consumption is on the rise and will grow 500% by 2015. Create a YouTube channel for your business, upload clips from great events. When complete, post your videos on your YouTube account, business website, blog and share across your social networks to engage with your target audience.

Don't become spam - keep your emails and promotions from ending up in potential clients' spam folders! Use an email platform such as MailChimp to build professional looking and consistent campaigns, work to make your messages personalized and relevant to your audience, and ask subscribers to verify their email subscriptions to keep your audience engaged.

Go mobile - It is important to start thinking mobile first. people are opening your emails, checking out your website and spending time on their social networks from their mobile phones and tablets at an extremely high rate. Be sure to mobilize your communication efforts and website, and make it easy to view your content and contact you with action buttons.

image by forbes.com

Get +1 review each month - 72% of consumers trust online reviews much as personal recommendations. Quality, quantity, recency and consistency are the four keys to developing a strong and effective online reputation, and help significantly increase your new business inquiries. Set your goal to get at least one new online review each month and grow your business this year.

Ask for client feedback - Feedback is a great way to explore ways to grow and improve your business. To get started, send short surveys using tools like SurveyMonkey, ask your network a question about your business on Facebook and send a follow up questionnaire to your clients after their event.